Process of treating ore.



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OLIVER WEBBER,

OF SAME PLACE.

PROCESS OF TREATING ORE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 635,056, dated October17, 1899. Application filed February 12 1898. Serial No. 670,056. (Nospecimens.)

To all whom it may concern.-

Beit known that I, DANIEL OKEEFE, a citizen of Boston, in the county ofSuffolk and State of Massachusetts, have invented certain new and usefulImprovements in the Treatment of Ores for the Purpose of Extractingtheir Units of Value; and I hereby declare that the following is a full,clear, and exact description of the invention, which will enable othersskilled in the art to which it appertains to use the same.

This invention relates to an improvement in the treatment of oreswhereby the percentage of valuable units recovered is greatly increased,the time required for such treatment materially reduced, and a markedeconomy effected in labor and materials. Heretofore in the treatment ofores quite a large percentage of valuable units have been lost becauseof the inefficient manner of treating such ores and to the lack of timein which to accomplish such treatment; also, to the excessive cost oflabor, materials, and time in proportion to the remaining units of valuewhich may be recovered.

The objects of my invention are to thoroughly treat ores so as tocompletely recover all of the units of Value contained therein, to havethe difierent operationscompleted in a minimum amount of time, to makethe opera tions continuous, and to have the different stages of thetreatment follow each other in a consecutive manner, with provisions forinterrupting and resubjecting the ores being treated to any of theprevious operations or to pass by and omit any of the subsequentoperations at the will and pleasure of the opera tor, as may seemdesirable.

To carry my invention into effect I first introduce the ore to betreated into a system of mechanical disintegrators. While subj ected tomechanical disintegration I also subject the same to a roasting heat forthe purpose of causing the volatile impurities-such as sulfur, antimony,phosphorus, (lac-to pass off in the form of gases and to render the oresmore friable, so as to more readily admit of their disintegration by themechanical disintegrators referred to. After roast ing the ores whilebeing mechanically disintegrated I subject the said ore to hydrogen gasunder pressure for the purpose of converting to metal the oxids whichhave been formed and have adhered to particles of ore during theprevious roasting.

To illustrate, in an iron sulfid ore containing gold the hydrogen wouldreduce to metal the ferric oXid which had been formed and had adhered toparticles of gold ore during previous roasting. After this treatment,which has the effect of making the ore thus treated susceptible to theaction of chlorin, I convert the gold into a soluble compound by forcingthrough it chlorin gas and steam under pressure. lVith a gold ore thegold is usually converted into chlorid within thirty minutes, althoughthe actual time is dependent upon the characteristics of the ore. Inthis way I make a material saving over the usual time allowed forchlorination. The mass is then removed from the chlorinationtank,leached, and the gold precipitated from the solution in accordance withany of the well-known methods. The residue is then washed with Warmsalt-water to wash off any chlorin which may have adhered to the ore andwhich may prevent the formation of amalgams and then passed through anamalgamator to recover any gold which may have escaped chlorination. Ido not confine myself to the use of chlorin in dissolving gold, as otheragents may be employed, and in some instances it is possible to recoverthe units of value by directly amalgamating after the ore is passedthrough the hydrogen treatment.

When desirable, I treat the ore a second time by the application ofhydrogen and the evaporation of moisture, vapor, and other gases priorto the treatment of the ore with quicksilver, so as to obtain the bestresults. In this process I supply these gases and liquids under pressuresuch as may be desired and insure their circulation by blowers, pumps,and other suitable means.

Having now fully described my invention, what I desire to protect andsecure by Letters Patent is as follows:

1. The process of treating ore, consisting in roasting the same whilebeing agitated, for the purpose of mechanical disintegration, subjectingthe same to hydrogen gas under pres jecting the ore to hydrogen gasunder pressure, afterward to chlorin gas, and then leaching the sameWith hot salt-Water, substantially as described.

In testimony whereof I have signed my name to this application, in thepresence of two subscribing Witnesses, on this 11th day of 20 February,A. D. 1898.

DANIEL OKEEFE.

Witnesses:

J OHN L. NICHOLS, FREDERICK W. GAY.

